Impressive Glasgow down Bulls at Scotstoun

A scintillating first-half performance set Glasgow Warriors set up for an impressive 35-21 win over last season’s United Rugby Championship finalists the Bulls.

Glasgow ran out of steam in the final quarter at Scotstoun but dug deep to defend heroically, which meant the scoreboard accurately reflected the home team’s on-field superiority.

The Warriors took a seventh-minute lead when they kicked a penalty to the corner before launching a series of close-range attacks, which culminated in Matt Fagerson bustling over.

George Horne added the conversion and the Warriors were straight back on the attack from the restart and scored their second try just three minutes later.

This time Sione Tuipulotu, Glasgow’s captain for the night, and Fraser Brown combined to send Sebastian Cancelliere on a 30-yard dash to the line.

The Bulls kept turning the screw but the hosts defended superbly, and their resilience was rewarded when Horne scored a fantastic solo try to secure the bonus point with 35 minutes played.

The scrum-half broke from halfway and rode at least three tackles on his way to the line.

The Warriors started the second half as they ended the first and another breathless passage of play led to try number five when Cancelliere was put into space on the right, stepped past the first defender and then sent Josh McKay over with a brilliant one-handed offload.

Both sides were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when Horne and Elrigh Louw found themselves in a tussle on the deck and were sent to the sin-bin to cool off.

Replacement hooker Bismarck du Plessis bustled in for the Bulls’ second try on the hour mark, and Chris Smith once again added the conversion to help keep the contest just about alive.

But the Warriors kept the visitors at bay with one cover tackle by Cancelliere summing up the home team’s determination not to concede an inch to their opponents.

Finally, Janko Swanepoel scored a consolation try for the Bulls in the last minute but it was too little too late to deny Glasgow victory.